Rail firm criticised for insensitive Twitter use

An “insensitive” rail firm has apologised after using its Twitter account to
tell commuters to “Go to the pub” following a suspected suicide by a
passenger.

Photo: ALAMY

By Daily Telegraph Reporter

1:01PM GMT 15 Feb 2012

London Midland posted the tweet on the social networking site after being asked about delays following the death of a man in his 70s at a railway station.

Despite the tragic nature of the incident, the official Twitter account told customer to “Go to the pub - things will be rubbish for at least the next hour."

And when another commuter enquired if the victim had survived, the firm responded "nope" before saying "Can't stop someone jumping off a platform in front of a train I'm afraid."

Today, both commuters and charities expressed surprise at the way in which the matter was handled.

Rachel Kirby-Rider, of the Samaritans, said she was in touch with London Midland about training staff in "how to best communicate information to their passengers within difficult and sensitive situations."

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Commuter Keith White, 30, who faced delays back to his Birmingham home on the day, said: "I'm not sure how this train company have won any awards with insensitive comments like this. They should be ashamed of themselves."

The fatality occurred at University station in Selly Oak, Birmingham, on Sunday.

The death, which is not being treated as suspicious, is the second fatality on the rail line between Birmingham's biggest station New Street and the University station in the last seven months.

The deceased, who was pronounced dead at the scene, is expected to be formally identified at an inquest opening at Birmingham Coroner's Court later this week.

London Midland’s Twitter feed has more than 13,000 followers. It describes itself as an 'award-winning official account'.

David Whitley, who heads up the @londonmidland feed, said: "We haven't received any complaints from the people involved in this correspondence, although we are very sorry if we have unintentionally upset anyone reading through our Twitter feed.

"London Midland can receive over a thousand tweets a day, and we try very hard to provide tailored, individual responses to as many of them as possible within the 140 character limit.

"We are involved in ongoing work with Network Rail and the Samaritans to help reduce the frequency of these sad events."